to think that this should be illegal?

[MaryMotherOfCheeses]

Typical 2356% APR

www.quickquid.co.uk/

Are people really that desperate that they'd fall for this?

Yes it should be illegal. That's targeting people who may not understand what APR is, or are so desperate they don't care. Disgusting.

YANBU but...if it's a choice between getting charged £30 to go overdrawn and getting charged £20 to borrow £100 for a month I can see how it would make sense. There have been times when I have had to call up one of my brothers and get them to transfer a bit of cash to my account to cover a bill to avoid going over my limit - if I didn't have kind, solvent and computer literate family members I might have needed such a service.

My 12 yo DS noticed this on the bottom of the screen when the advert was on tv the other day.
We couldn't believe it.
Irresponsible of the companies that allow quickquid to advertise when them, imo, but all they care about is revenue.

It would be £30 on £100.

It's just taking advantage of vulnerable people.

I'm amazed it's considered legal.

Thing is, if you desperately need cash in a hurry, you often end up using companies like this. You may well know that it's gonig to cost you, but if the alternative is eviction or going to jail, you do it.

But shouldn't there be some limits on what is considered reasonable?

There are in terms of credit card charges, bank charges. This shouldn't be any different.

I'm a bit surprised at the shoulder shrugging, tbh.

If you're that desperate for £100, say, I'm not quite sure how you can then afford ot pay back £130 the following month.

I've used similar services in the past when I was really skint. The interest was not quite so high but almost. If you really are living hand to mouth and waiting for your next pay cheque, sometimes there is no choice. Sad but true!

A friend ended up taking out a few pay day loans to get by over the course of a few months. She told me a few months after when she really started to struggle paying them. She happened to be quite down and had bills she needed to cover when she took the first one out. Then the following month it just got worse and worse so it just all spiralled. When she would tell them she couldn't pay they would let her defer for a fee or take out another loan!

She has an IVA now and is getting sorted but some of the companies were really vile and nasty on the phone to her when she couldn't pay and I think she was almost bullied into taking out more loans by the pressure they put her under. Some of them are still calling her now even though they know she is on an IVA so will not pay!

I'm really poor and have pawned stuff (knowing I'd never be able to get my things back) at desperate moments. Since my bank charges a £45 overdrawn fee, then charges interest on that for every day it shows as a negative, then ANOTHER £45 if the excess still isn't clear (and so on), it could be more economic to borrow at stupid rates and avoid the bank fees.

Now I'm at the sharp end, I feel quite strongly that whole system is iniquitous. Everything costs more when you're poor - even basics like gas & electricity. A £45 bank charge is more than half my weekly income, most weeks. Credit cards and flex accounts are unavailable.

I wish the govt had put all that save-the-banks money into local co-operatives, which might have exploited the poor rather less and kick-started the economy rather better.

Eek, I've ranted
Feel better for it though! Thanks!

I have got into trouble with these before (mainly due to one of the companies I did freelance work for being utterly dishonest over payment) - the loan companies say they need to charge a lot to cover the fact that some customers don't/can't pay back the loans. It's grim but, as others have said, sometimes you have no choice - being poor is very expensive.

The service they offer can be invaluable, but these companies should be tightly regulated so that they can make a profit, but not be allowed to charge such extortionate rates, or operate in such a menacing manner.
The government really needs to grow some bollocks and deal vigorously with the financial industry in the UK.

The thing is, sometimes you need £100 to get out of a big hole and with these companies you can get the £100 and though you pay a lot of interest you can pay the loan back at a few quid a week. I've paid as little as £4 a week before albeit over a long time.
I've also been paying upto £30 with more than one company which is when it got too much and I swore never again when they were paid off.

Brighthouse bother me more, but then I suppose if you needed a fridge, or washing machine they are a way of getting one.

Yes, what people who get all pious about the poor and their debts don't understand is that no matter how 'careful' you are with your money, if you are on the minimum wage or benefits, there is just nothing spare for emergencies (such as the cooker breaking down or the DC losing or trashing their school clothes) so you have to borrow, and the only people who will lend to you are the ones that charge these horrific rates...

'being poor is very expensive'

that one hit the nail on the head.

You could get either of those from freecycle or a charity house clearance/2nd hand appliance place, though. Our local BHF shop is bursting with dirt cheap re-conditioned white goods.

£50 to do a week's shop is a bit harder to come by.

V dodgy & I'm inclined to agree that if you're that skint this month, you're almost certainly going to be in deeper next.

raven, many people don't have the transport to make freecycle an option for larger goods, unless the giver will deliver of course but I think most just want rid of the item the easiest way possible.

It can be better to borrow that £100 than be charged a huge bank charge for going over your overdraft limit, or facing eviction, having no gas/electric.

I'm not in that sort of position anymore, and hope I won't be again but it was the only way at the time.

I can see how it could be so tempting. I have been to the point of typing my details into those sites then deleted them, but then I suppose I have been very lucky in that we have had family who have been able to help us get out of tight spots (eg it took 11 weeks between DP losing his job and us getting a penny of benefits through no fault of our own. The DWP gave us £50 compensation for leaving us possibly starving for all that time, with me pregnant and a two year old DD).

However, while I am completely in favour of people spending money how they like, so if they want to save up for a big tv from thier benefits, fair enough, I do have the suspicion a lot of people see things as essential that just aren't. Once you have one person in work, you really should, unless you have a really unusual situation, have enough to live on. We have a wonderful tax credits system that really helps. Again though, my family are lucky enough to have the education to be able to cook from scratch, search for the best deals on bills, find offers and schemes for entertainment and apply for all we are entitled to.

I agree that payday loan/brighthouse places need to be stopped, and also that "normal" banks badly need sorting out. I used to find myself using those cheque cashing places when I used to get paid by cheque and couldn't wait for the cheque to clear, and the fees meant that each week I got worse off.

I now use a bank called think bank, where I pay a fee of £12 a month and don't have any bank charges, which saves me around £50 and a lot of worry every month. I would recommend it to anyone like me who is rubbish with money.

Lloyds have been VERY helpful with me (i am pants with Direct Debits, paid everything over the counter for as long as poss, but most companies don't do that anymore). I now have a normal 'banking account' with them, that I have a card for, but I also have a 'bills account' that I transfer money over by standing order every 4 weeks from my Child benefit. I just divided my bills by 12, then pay that amount over every 4 weeks, which means that I pay 13 times a year, so I get to go into the bank and get that 'extra' payment out to go towards Christmas. I haven't had a single bounce charge in the 4 months since I've done that with the help of Lloyds. (I was getting 3/4 a MONTH ). Most poor people's problems arise from the fact that they get paid either weekly, fortnightly or 4-weekly, and businesses want their payments 'calender monthly', which is REALLY difficult to work out. If these companies would just understand that we DON'T GET PAID THAT WAY, people would be a lot less likely to resort to these methods. And my sofa's are literally falling apart under me & my DC's, freecycle has none, and the local charity shops WON'T deliver (I don't drive due to epilepsy). My tiny bit of savings went 3 months ago when my washing machine was deemed un-repairable. Think we'll be sat on milk crates soon, but I refuse to go down this route ever again, was in trouble through provident and greenwards a few years ago, now that's paid off, I will NEVER get any loans again. If I've not got the money, I am not going to have it!

And who can shop for a family on £50 a week ! I know my shopping is dearer as DS1 is coeliac, so all food has to be GF. (a loaf of his bread does 3 sandwiches as the slices are soooo small he has to have 4 rather than 2-take a look next time you're in tesco's!) But I cook from scratch, make sure my DC's get at least 5 portions of fruit & veg a day, and eat fresh meat (I believe it's important while they're growing), and my shopping bills are a MINIMUM of £120/week. Where are you all shopping??!! Tell me, if it'll save me money. Only shops I can reach by public transport are Tesco's (which does an OK selection of GF food), Waitrose (which has an EXCELLENT range of GF foods), or Asda (which has practically NOTHING DS1 can eat, they have bread and GF pasta that doesn't cook as well as the tesco's one),and would mean me going to one of the others as well, which would involve extra travelling money).

There are no laws regulating the interest rates that companies like this charge in this country, this is why we have so many of them. It's exploitation of people on low incomes as the normal channels of low rate bank loans are closed off to them as they are seen as hih risk. It's rediculous really and there should be measures in place to protect consumers.

Sadly, we live in an economy where greed is the top factor. They don't care what you earn, they just see people as income. It's shameful. Their excuse is that the interest rates are there so people are free to choose. Bollocks if you ask me.

Loudlass - my Dsis is also a coeliac, she started off finding it all very expensive as she tried to replicate her 'normal' food with GF alternatives. But a few years down the line and she's given up on buying the GF alternatives most of the time (except for the odd treat), and has quite a different diet to her old one. She uses things like rice cakes and corn cakes instead of bread, eats more jacket potatoes etc. and is finding her food bills more manageable.
Sorry for sticking my nose in, I know it's really hard.

Yeah, I undrestand, but I (personally) see cooking as a chore, not a joy, couldn't face cooking 2 meals every day, and he is only 7yo, and wants to eat what the rest of us eat unfortunately, so I have to either make meals for ALL of us that he can eat, or adapt a meal so he has 'almost' the same.

He gets upset and feels 'deprived' (his words!) otherwise . I did manage to make a really nice casserole with lovely GF dumplings tonight though. .